Photo Page - 2017 Penn/CMU Roybal Behavioral Economics Retreat

Photo Page - 2017 Penn/CMU Roybal Behavioral Economics Retreat

SKYTOP, Pa. -- The 9th annual University of Pennsylvania/Carnegie Mellon University Roybal Behavioral Economics Retreat convened at the Skytop Lodge and Conference Center here in the Poconos. In the Evergreen Ballroom (above), Associate Professor at Penn's School of Nursing and LDI Senior Fellow Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, leads a workshop on behavioral studies design. Two organizations collaborate in the ongoing NIH P30 Center of Excellence Roybal research program: Penn's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE), and CMU's Center for Behavioral and Decision Research (CBDR).
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Skytop Lodge (above, left) is a massive complex that sits atop a Pocono plateau and hides much of its bulk underground. Originally opened in the Roaring Twenties as an elegant mountain getaway for well-heeled Philadelphians, its grounds include 30 miles of hiking trails. Above, right, surveying the view from the Lodge's observation desk is Joanne Levy, MBA, Deputy Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) and Associate Director of the Wharton School's Health Care Management PhD Program.

The two-day gathering held its main sessions in the Lodge's Evergreen Ballroom (above, left) where CHIBE Director and LDI Senior Fellow Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, (above, right) welcomed attendees and recapped the rapid changes now occurring across the behavioral sciences field as well as the latest work of CHIBE's scientists, many of whom are LDI Senior Fellows. He noted that over the last year, the group members had published 349 papers on research topics ranging from medication adherence and mobile monitoring devices to weight loss strategies and end-of-life care. "More importantly," he sad, "we're seeing a lot of impact in the field from the work these researchers are doing." Volpp also unveiled CHIBE's new Annual Report.

One of the most useful aspects of the annual retreat is the ability to network with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere. Above left, Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation Director of Operations and LDI Senior Fellow Shivan Mehta, MD, MBA; Penn Medicine Chief Innovation Officer and LDI Senior Fellow Roy Rosin, MBA; and Penn Medicine Associate Director of Primary Care Matthew Press, MD, MSc, chat about the morning's presentations. Above, right, Co-Director of the CMU Center for Behavioral and Decision Research George Loewenstein, PhD, greets the audience.

For the first time, this Roybal gathering featured a poster session that turned the main corridor (above, left) into a heavily perused gallery of 20 behavioral sciences research projects. Above, right, with the poster for his study of drivers' response to smartphone blood alcohol levels feedback is Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Perelman and LDI Senior Fellow Kit Delgado, MD, MS.

Above, left, CHIBE Clinical Research Coordinator Rebekah Choi, MPH, with the poster of her team's randomized controlled trial of designs and methods for studies of incentives vs. environmental strategies for weight loss. Above, right, CHIBE Clinical Research Coordinators Sakshum Chadha, BS, and David Pagnotti, MS, with a poster of their team's study on the comparative effectiveness of process and outcomes incentives for lipid management.

Comparing notes as they prepare their separate presentations (above, left) are Marina Serper, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and LDI Senior Fellow, and Iwan Barankay, PhD, Associate Professor of Management, Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School. Serper spoke on lifestyle interventions designed to promote fitness among transplant patients; Barankay discussed incentives for inducing lasting modifications in oral health care behaviors. Above, right, Perelman School Pulmonary and Critical Care Instructor and LDI Senior Fellow Joanna Hart, MD, presented on a study on the use of deception in physician communications.

CMU Assistant Professor of Social and Decision Sciences Kareem Haggag, PhD (above, left), discussed his study of attribution bias. "Say you ran a marathon in unusually warm weather and next year when you're deciding whether to run a marathon again you may misattribute that random variation in the weather to how difficult or enjoyable it is to run a marathon," he said, noting similar kinds of attribution errors in medication adherence behaviors. Above, right, CMU Associate Professor of Statistics and Health Policy Amelia Haviland, PhD, detailed her study of employees' attitude and behavior changes following notification by their employers of a switch to a high-deductible health plan. They tend to rush to get high cost procedures in the interim between that email notification and when the new higher-cost plan kicks in. After that, their visits to doctors dramatically decrease along with their levels of medication adherence.

Preparing to get their maps and head out on this year's team building activity -- a nature scavenger hunt -- are (above, left, l to r): Kathleen (Kat) Berkowitz, Financial Coordinator, MEHP Division of Health Policy; Devon Taylor, MPH, Way to Health Operations Specialist; Tori Hilbert, MPH, Operations Manager, Penn Medicine Nudge Unit; Katherine Pryor, MD, MS, CHIBE Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Noora Marcus, CHIBE Project Manager; Kristin Caldarella, MHA, CHIBE Project Manager; Norma Coe, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School and LDI Senior Fellow; and Tiffini Sykes, CHIBE Financial Administrative Coordinator. Attendees were split into teams that raced against each other to find and take a group selfie in 11 different locations around the sprawling Skytop grounds. Here, Ryan McGilloway, BA, CHIBE Clinical Research Coordinator, and Neel Chokshi, MD, Medical Director of the Penn Medicine Sports Cardiology and Fitness Program, cross a dam which features its own waterfall.